On Thursday, December 2, 2010, at 5:30pm, two officers and a police supervisor were dispatched to 2205 Grove Street, in reference to a report of a black male in the house that was armed. Two telephone calls were received at the 911 Comm-Center prior to officers arriving on scene. Upon arrival officers on the front porch could hear loud screaming coming from inside the residence and observed a black male swinging a wooden cane at elderly black male through a window. The elderly male was later identified by officers as the grandfather, Scottie Brown. The situation inside the house was so violent officers had to force entry into the residence kicking open a locked door.

Once inside the residence the officers encountered a loud belligerent and disorderly B/M, Brandon Daniels, 25 years of age in the living room. Brandon Daniels was extremely combative swinging at and striking both officers with the wooden cane. One of our officers was struck on the hand and the other officer was struck on the left jaw while attempting to take the suspect into custody. The struggle between the officers and suspect continued as officers attempted to restrain and arrest Daniels taking him into custody. While the officers were defending themselves from the suspect moving towards them and swinging at them with a wooden cane, they sprayed the suspect with an aerosol O.C spray several times in an attempt to disable him. The officers were able to subdue Daniels and place him into handcuffs after the O. C. spray was deployed.

Daniels was arrested and moved from the residence to a marked patrol unit and transported to the Bi-State Justice Center. The officers arrived at the jail area in the basement of the Bi-State Justice Center, parked the patrol car, and went to the rear door to remove Brandon Daniels from the rear of the patrol car. The arresting officer noted Daniels was unresponsive. They notified the dispatch center to have the jail medical staff come the patrol car and asked for an ambulance to be dispatched to the basement of the Bi-State Justice Center to help get him out of the patrol car. While waiting for LifeNet to arrive, CPR was administered continually attempting to revive Daniels. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Daniels body was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for an autopsy and further testing. On March 2, 2011, The Arkansas State Crime Lab released the autopsy results. Their findings concluded Daniels cause of death to be “cocaine intoxication”.
Although O.C. spray was used during his arrest, the medical examiners report indicates there was no O.C. spray detected from a nasal swab. They did find traces on the pants of Daniels, there were no other areas of O.C. spray on his body and O.C. spray was not a factor in his death according to the medical examiners report.

A review of law enforcement records at the Bi-State Justice Center indicates Daniels has an extensive criminal history including several incidents of violent and unstable behavior. These records include him being shot by a family member, two different reported stabbings, and incidents of domestic violence. (See attachment detailing several of these incidents) Due to the extreme nature of Daniels behavior, he spent significant time in Texas State Medical facilities.

The Chief of Police conducted a staff review of the investigative file with police department Division Commanders and concluded based on the file review the officers followed established rules and regulations concerning the arrest of Brandon Daniels and the use of force was appropriate and within the agency’s Use of Force Continuem.